Locked On Mariners - Daily Podcast On the Seattle Mariners - Scott Servais Deserves AL Manager of the Year

Episode Date: October 6, 2021

Hosts Ty Dane Gonzalez and Colby Patnode talk about the Mariners' top play of the year, whether or not Scott Servais should win American League Manager of the Year and what Seattle's best game was in 2021.Be sure to follow or subscribe to Locked On Mariners wherever you prefer your podcasts! For questions and other inquiries, email: [e-mail] the show on Twitter: @LO_Mariners | @danegnzlz | @CPat11For more of Ty and Colby, check out their Patreon: patreon.com/controlthezone/BetOnline AGThere is only 1 place that has you covered and 1 place we trust. Betonline.ag! Sign up today for a free account at betonline.ag and use that promocode: LOCKEDON for your 50% welcome bonus.Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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I am your host, Tadian Gonzalez, joined as always by my co-host, Colby Patnode. Follow us on Twitter at L-O-U-U-U-U-N-Rernerners. You can follow me at Dane Gonzalez, that's D-A-N-Z-L-Z and Colby at C-P-A-E and Colby at C-P-A-T-1-1. Be sure to also check out our Patreon, where we talk about the Mariners even more, and also get into some non-baseball talk twice a week. new episode for all of our patrons coming out today. So visit patreon.com forward slash control the zone for more information. And remember at some point in the off season, we are going to be going to three shows a week

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So on today's episode of Lockdown Mariners, we're going to continue handing out some season awards and talk about our play of the year for the Mariners and our game of the year as well. And in between that, we'll also keep the focus on awards and talk about Scott Services chances of winning American League manager of the year.

If you like what you hear, give the show a follow or subscribe wherever you're listening to this. We'd greatly appreciate it. Colby, let's start with play of the year here. And we kind of talked about this on Monday when we were doing our final goodbyes to the 2021 team. I'm sure your answer will remain the same. But let's go over it anyway here and talk about our play of the year starting with you. It's probably the Dillenmore Grand Slam. I mean, it was such great come from behind victory.

And, you know, it was kind of an unexpected source. It was, it wasn't the high point. But in many ways, it was like the signature win of the 2021 Seattle Mariners. So the Dillan Moore Grand Slam is probably up there. Just the drama, the buildup, they were down. was it 7 to 1 early and they fought their way back and and uh you know for dylan more to come up against brooks raily and just absolutely torch a baseball into the left field bleachers for grand slam uh was something nobody really saw coming and it was it was just so much fun to watch

and and see the reaction of people on uh on social media so it's probably the brooks raley or the uh dillan more grand slam for me it's obviously the abraham toro grand slam for all for everything that had built up over those weeks since the trade happened all the talk about you know why would the mariners trade kindle graven your your closer your best reliever you're competing blah blah blah blah blah blah and then they went on a little skid after the trade happened and all that but torro was playing well and um obviously you know you and i had been praising that trade and uh really you know liked what we had seen from torro and then You know, just like a movie, the two guys that were traded for one another end up facing one another in a crucial game when it's zero zero. Bases loaded. I believe there are also two outs, if I remember correctly. It was a huge moment. And Graemean just left it there in the middle of the plate and Toro took advantage.

And it was like I said, I didn't even cheer. I just hysterically laugh for like five minutes straight. It was just the funniest thing I've ever seen. And just it, it was, it was so nice to, to see because it shut everyone up. Everyone that was talking all that mess about, why would you cherry Graveman, you know, for, for Toro and all. And it's funny too, because like that moment really shouldn't shut anyone up. Like the, the, that it's not predicated on just one moment. The trade, the, the, um, the success of that trade is not predicated on one moment.

but, you know, it was kind of what it all culminated to. And it was great. It was just, it was great to to dunk on everyone that stupidly acted like trading two months of a reliever for a potential everyday player with four years of control. That's pre-arbitration. Come on. Like, come on, guys. Yeah, just to, to dunk on those guys. was fun. It was a lot of fun.

Yeah. Any other moments, though, that you want to talk about here? Because, I mean, there's plenty of plays, especially on the defensive side as well. You know, one that comes to mind is Jake Fraley and Detroit, robbing that home run and then doubling off the runner. I believe that would have been a walkoff as well, right? Am I wrong in remembering that? It was so long ago. It would have been a walkoff, home run. Yep. Yeah. Yeah, that's wild.

the Mariners went on to win that game the only time they beat the Tigers this year because that made sense you can go six and one against the raise the top team in the American League and then go what one in six against the Tigers one of five against the Tigers this year weird team weird very weird the Dylan Moore leaping catch at third base against the Dodgers is up there the play made the next day at second base on the line drive up the middle I think it was like 110 miles per hour off the bat of Chris Taylor and it was just full extension

Demo also made another nice play against the Red Sox I believe it was When they went to Penway So yeah I mean Dylan Moore involved in a lot of the top plays This year which is weird because you take away those big top place that we talked about. He was really bad. But yeah, you know, it's stuff like that. The German curse of Mariners players, man.

Absolutely. But I feel like, I feel like, you know, that there's the Mitch Hanigur two-run single here on the, what was that, last Saturday, that's got to be up there. You know, it got you to 162, where that game mattered and it didn't work out for you. But, you know, that can't be overstated just how huge that hit was. You just, you know, giving up the lead.

And it was Seawald, which has been really carrying the bullpen for most of the second half. And it just felt deflating. And you just dropped a tough one the day before and all that stuff. And then Hanager comes up huge. And that was definitely up there from an emotional standpoint. But, yeah, I feel like it's still the Dylan Moore Grand Slam. The Toro Grand Slam is up there mainly for us. Just for gratitude is not the right word, but just for, you know.

Vindication. Thank you. Vindication. So that that was way up there too. But yeah, there were certainly a lot of great plays. And I mean, J.P. Crawford made so many that we just can't even remember like one specific play that he made. You know what I mean?

You know, with J.P. this year, I don't, I don't think there. was really a Heisman moment for him, like how he had the one-legged throw against the tigers a couple of years ago. Yeah. There wasn't really like that play this year. But JP was, I think a part of it too is that JP is just so smooth with it there that we kind of take it for granted whenever he does something incredible. Which is unfortunate in a way because he is fantastic at shortstop. Yeah. one of the best defensive short stops in all at baseball.

He's, yeah, he's really fun to watch. Yeah, there's a lot of good plays that you can take from this team. You know, and a lot of huge moments. But I think we covered quite a few of the big ones here. So we're going to talk about Scott Service in just a moment and what his chances are of winning manager of the year in the American League. But real quick, I want to remind you this episode of Locked on.

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Be sure to tell your friends, family, enemies. and tell them to listen to us, ramble on about the Mariners. It's going to be a fun offseason. So let's talk about Scott's service here because, you know, the Mariners obviously didn't make it to the postseason, but they went 90 and 72.

This is a 91 ball club when projections put them anywhere from 70 to at most 81 wins, really. And that's honestly kind of pushing it. They're on the positive side of things. This team, I mean, exceeded everyone's expectations. Even the most optimistic Mariners fan out there would, which might be us. Honestly, we, we didn't even think that they were going to get to 500 this year.

So the fact that they just kept on winning and winning and overcame so much this year with everything that that went on with the organization before the season and throughout it, Scott Service held this team together throughout. all of it and led them to and helped lead them to a 90-win season. Now, of course, the baseball writers of America aren't paying attention, you know, aren't paying as close of attention to every single ball club that they, that they have to cover. And everyone is going to have a little bit of bias here and there.

So my expectation is that Scott Service is probably not going to win American League manager of the year, even though that he deserves it. I think it's pretty clear he deserves it. but it usually goes to a manager whose team actually made the postseason and it usually never goes to the right guy in the end anyway, even among the managers that do make it to the postseason. So Colby, what would you put Scott's chances at here to win manager of the year?

And what is the argument for him? The argument for him is that in the NFL, he would have already won it. because the NFL award goes to the most surprising team always. So otherwise Bill Belichick would win it basically every year. So that's kind of the argument is that Scott is the guy who managed the team that most exceeded their win projection in a positive manner. So kind of the reverse Chase Tinkler. So yeah. But, you know, from a very practical standpoint here is that what you have to consider was Scott is that his roster wasn't very good, right?

It was really thought to be a bad, you know, top five pick type of type of roster here. He lost some of his best players. Kyle Lewis played in 36 games. James Paxton threw 24 pitches. He lost those guys. Calna came up. He wasn't good for a long time. Logan Gilbert struggled. Cal Raleigh struggled. So everybody that we kind of associated with this team having a chance to maybe take a jump really didn't help all that much. They were bad or hurt or struggled for extended periods. And yet somehow the team won 90 games.

And so that's a credit to Scott managing his bullpen. That's a credit to Scott, you know, pulling some strings here and there. and we watched we we watched scott out maneuver some of the some of his peers some of the people who are probably going to get votes for this like dusty baker um you know the the dillan more grand slam yeah the dillam more grand slam was set up because uh you know basically um scott beat him at chess right he brings in the lefty to face uh fraily or fraily whatever and and so it counter counter move with uh with dillon more and it was a grand slam. And yeah, he went 14, what was it, 14 and 5, 15 and 4

against Bob Melvin, who is arguably the best manager in all of baseball this year, just completely outmaneuvered him at every turn. He went 6 and 1 against Kevin Cash in that team. Yeah. I mean, he just, he went toe to toe with the, what's that? Did he split the season

series with the White Sox? I think they did. Yeah. No, they actually won that series. They won both series. They went four and two against Tony Larusa. So yeah, they, they, he went against his, you know, the only one who had a winning record against Scott that should be in consideration for this or theoretically will be in consideration for this is Dusty Baker.

And that wasn't because Baker outboxed, you know, Scott's service. It was because Baker's team is significantly better than service's team. And the service still managed to go, what, 8 and 11 against, against Dusty. So yeah, he did the most. with the least and he has set this team up to be a future juggernaut based on everything he's done with the with things like team chemistry and building culture and things like that so for those reasons he deserved differential and fund differential and for those reasons he deserves to win plus he's got that dad energy and who doesn't love you know team dad's got service so yeah he deserves

to win because he did the most with the lease and uh he got his team to game 162 as a playoff contender and honestly a vote for anybody else is a stupid vote just straight up it is it's a stupid award but it's a stupid vote to vote for anybody but scott service speaking of the dad energy and since we were on the talk of uh play plays of the year you know my moment of the year though is jerry kelnick and scott service hugging after uh kelnick uh had the walk off walk against the blue jays uh yeah that was uh cute i'll say It's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's the, the family culture that, um, Scott has built in this organization and in that clubhouse as, uh, it's just, it's so awesome to see. Um, to see these guys come together, even when, you know, we've heard things about them disagreeing on certain topics and, and, and having some, uh, some discourse within the clubhouse.

And even at times when, you know, Kendall Graveman got traded and, and, and, you know, a lot, lot, lot of, of the guys in the clubhouse, you know, kind of lost it there for a little bit and to be able to reel everyone back in and overcome all that and continue to just push forward and be able to finish the season on such a strong note. Obviously, you know, it didn't come together in the final series there, but to even, you know, put themselves back in the in the conversation after falling four games back in mid-September to make up that ground and get to a point where they were controlling their own destiny is just, it's, it's incredible. It's a true testament to, uh, to Scott's service.

Um, yeah, he, if I was voting, obviously and, you know, of course, I'm biased, but like, knowing what happened this year and knowing the effect that he had on this ball club, I mean, it's different. It's different than a lot of managers have. It, it really is. Um, a lot of managers really do fall in the background with a lot of teams. And Scott doesn't. Scott is the glue that holds them together.

And as a manager should be, by the way. Scott is a perfect culture builder. Obviously has some issues with in-game management that, you know, irritates us at times. But also, most managers are bad at game management, which is weird to say. But at least he has the culture building part down pat. I mean, is there a better culture builder in baseball than Scott Service right now? I mean, it's stuff to say because we don't, we don't follow other teams as closely. But I mean, Bob Melvin and Kevin Cash have to be up there.

But, you know, those guys have talent, like legitimate major league talent. And Scott has kind of helped grow his own talent in a way. So, yeah, it's definitely, it's definitely possible that he's the best at building culture. Yeah. It's it's something. And I mean, that's the reason why Jerry DePoto brought him in because he knew that

he was at least going to be good at that. The culture building. And that's certainly shown through. So let's keep talking about this team and hand out some fictional hardware of our own to the game of the year for the Mariners

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Thank you again for tuning into Lockdown Mariners and making us your first listen of the day. Every day, we are free and available on all platforms. Colby, let's talk about our game of the year for the Mariners this year. A lot of fun ones to mention, and you mentioned a really good one in your play of the year pick. But is that going to be your pick for this? Or are you going a different route? That game's probably way up there. But I feel like, you know, just to be a little bit different here, the 4 to 3 win over the Dodgers early in the year was an incredibly fun game that was topped off with a, you know, huge momentous catch from Dylan.

more third base. You know, that was early candidate for play of the year before, well, everything else happened. The game was back and forth. It was fun. There was pretty good pitching. There was good defense. There was some timely hitting. That game was a lot of fun.

It was so long ago, though, that most people probably don't remember it. That game was a ton of fun. And it definitely still stands out even with all the other games that have happened this year. and there have been some great ones. So I'm going to give credit to that game. But, yeah, I mean, the Dylan Moore game is a big one, obviously. And this last game on Saturday was a pretty big one. The Mitch Hanigar game.

So, yeah, I mean, I'm sure you're going to throw the Abraham Toro game in there. That one was good. The Toro over off a Graveman. That was a good game, too. It was zero, zero heading into the eighth. you say Kikuchi's one hitter against the Astros 1-0-0-0-1-0-1. That was capped off by Taylor Tremel's sliding catch

in the smile and all that stuff. So also the win over the White Sox where Taylor Tremel hit a go-ah-home run and he had the awesome bat flip off of Liam Hendricks. So there's a lot of good ones. But for me, the one that still stands out is that early win against the Dodgers, the 4-3 win.

it didn't set the tone. It's too, like, it's not that type of win, but it was certainly up there, and it was it was Justice Sheffield versus Dustin May. And, uh, and it was, Jose Marbleos hit the most inexplicable home run off of Dustin May in that game

too. He had a, uh, West MVP, Jose Marmalaeos, by the way. Free agent. He was now elected free agent. Yes. Free agent, Jose Marmaloes.

But, no, it was one of those fun, one of those fun wins. And so that one, that one stands out to me. And, you know, it, it, it deserves some mention here because it was, it was a lot of fun. I am going to go all the way back, all the way back to game one. Yes, opening day against the giants. The Mariners got shut down by. Kevin Gossman for most of this game. They were down 5-0-0 going into the seventh inning.

They got one run off of Gossmann, made it 5-1, and then the Giants put up another run, and it was 6-1, and it was just like, eh, it's over. What a crappy way to start the year. And then they explode for six runs in the eighth inning. And then, of course, you know, I,

ninth inning, Raphael Montero, I'm sure that name will make some some folks cringe gives up a home run to Dickerson and made a 7-7 and you know this kind of set the tone for for chaos ball really

because they go into the 10th somehow survive do not give up a run in the 10th and and then who else but to record a walk-off walk than Jake Frailey, aka take Frailey. For the 8 to 7 win to start the year.

I mean, we should have all known when that happened. What kind of year we were in for? I don't, I, there's so many games that are just weird and quirky and they kind of have their own reason for remembering them, but just in terms of like the back and forth and the, you know, the big plays and all that stuff. the game against the angels on Saturday stands out the game against the Dodgers early in the year stands out

and the back and forth is honestly it's probably a little more fun for me than the the comeback wins like opening day and the in the Dylan Moore Grand Slam just because there's so much drama and you know the the come from behind victories are fun and there it's you know hey we don't come all the way back it's still cool that we we made it close and all that stuff but the back and forth is, you know, hey, this is a game we can win and then, oh, we blew it. And oh, no, we look at that. We took the lead again. And, oh, we blew it.

And just that, that emotional, you know, teeter totter, whereas a comeback victory is pretty much all, you know, it's all roller coaster. Like, it's all going straight up. Did we mention, did we mention shed lungs walk off Grand Slam against the race? We haven't mentioned any of the games against the rays, which is funny because that entire series, they swept the rays in four games. And I think they walked off three of them. If I remember it correctly? And that's how they finished it. That's how they solidified the sweep was with Shedlong's walkoff grand slam.

The game where they wore the Seattle Steelhead throwbacks to honor the Negro leagues. That was, I believe, Mitch Hanager driving in J.P. Crawford with a double on the first pitch of extra innings. That game's way up there, too. So, yeah, the games against Tampa are really good, particularly the sweep. and then but yeah I like the back and forth kind of you know blow for blow type of game so I'm going to give you know priority

to the to the games like the Angels game on Saturday and the Dodgers game in April over the you know insane comebacks of opening day and the Dylan Moore Grand Slam and all that stuff so that's where I stand on like best games I like to back to back ones like or the

the back and fourth ones like you know the 28 to 3 Super Bowl comeback not as exciting as when two teams are just trading three and outs and touchdowns and there's an answer for, you know, your haymaker, you throw a haymaker, but then they answer back with one of their own, that those games are more fun. The, the Philly versus New England Super Bowl is better than the New England versus Atlanta Super Bowl, and not just because New England lost, but, you know, there's back and forth there. So, yeah, it's, it's, there were a lot of fun games. And honestly,

we could probably sit here and go through the list of 160,000. two games and talk about what we remember from those games and which one was our favorite and do all that stuff. But yeah, it's, there were a lot to choose from. And I'm sure we're not thinking of something and somebody listening is screaming at us. What about this game? What about this game? But I mean, let us know. Like what, what's your favorite game? Yeah, yeah. Let us know. Hit us up on Twitter at L0 underscore Mariners. You can follow me at Dane Gonzalez, it's D-A-N-E, G-N-Z-L-Z and Colby at C-P-A-11, that's C-P-A-T-1, and that's going to do it for today's show. Thank you so much for joining us here on Lockdown Mariners.

For Colby Patnode, I'm Ty Dan Gonzalez. Thank you again for making Lockdown Mariners your first listen of the day every day. We will be back tomorrow, giving out our season awards for reliever of the year and Defender of the Year or Platinum Glove, whatever you want to call it. But now make your second listen to the day, Locked on MLB, where Paul Francis Sullivan, and please call him Sully, brings you his unique perspective on the major league's present and pass. It's free and available on all platforms just like us. Have yourself a beautiful baseball day, and we'll see you tomorrow.